“To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making.” — Otto von Bismarck (Chancellor of the German Empire, 1815-1898) Recently, I traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) Board of Directors meeting. Each year, this meeting is held in the nation’s capitol to allow visits to senators, congressmen, USDA, FDA, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and other government officials. I have made these visits a number of times over the years and they always make for interesting discussions. That said, seeing the political process up close reminds one of sausage making – it’s not a pretty process, although the final product can be quite good.

Individuals representing the public utility commission, the power grid, the Chesapeake Bay Commission and the dairy farm population were all in attendance at the most recent Pennsylvania Dairy Power Stakeholders roundtable discussion. The meeting was held earlier this month and served as a platform for the group to discuss opportunities and obstacles to expanding renewable energy production on Pennsylvania dairy farms.

“We need ethical reflection, not extremism,” renowned author and film maker Shawn Lawrence Otto told the crowd of food and farm industry leaders gathered for the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 11th annual Stakeholders Summit. Sixteen expert speakers explored the theme “Real Farmers Real Food: Celebrating Tradition and Technology” during the two-day conference held in Arlington, Virginia. Presentations helped attendees ensure authenticity in telling their unique agriculture story and encouraged the entire food chain to unite and embrace innovative consumer outreach efforts.

The annual meeting of the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) and the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) – a.k.a. JAM – is coming up July 15-19 in Phoenix, Arizona. JAM provides a great opportunity to network with dairy research, extension and industry leaders from around the world. Oral and poster presentations, a wide range of symposia and trade show displays provide a great opportunity to learn about cutting edge research that will be moving to the field in the near future, as well as work to address current issues facing the dairy industry and animal agriculture.